EU commissioner resigns to run for prime minister’s office in Netherlands

By Agnes Szucs

BRUSSELS (AA) – The European Commission’s Executive Vice President Frans Timmermans resigned on Tuesday to run for prime minister at the upcoming Dutch elections.

The EU executive body announced in a statement that Timmermans, the head of the bloc’s climate policy, submitted his resignation “following his decision to be a candidate in the forthcoming general election campaign in the Netherlands.”

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen accepted his withdrawal “with immediate effect” and thanked Timmermans “for his many years of successful work for the Commission and the European citizens,” the statement added.

Executive Vice President Maros Sefcovic will take over the climate portfolio until the Dutch government nominates another commissioner.

The Dutch Labour Party and the Green Left confirmed earlier this month that Timmermans would be their lead candidate at the general elections in November.

Timmermans has served an EU commissioner since 2014.

Between 2012 and 2014, he served as the foreign minister of the Netherlands.